Dr. Charles Nelson (pediatrician) and his research team carried out studies in Romania looking at children raised in orphanages. They carried out a trial in which they paid families to take in very young children and foster them. A group of children were randomely divided into two groups, one to get foster care, and one to stay in the institution. Care was taken to ensure that the families did a good job. Results were staggering.

The kids left in the orphanage had lower IQ, smaller brains, mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, lousy language development. The results were so dramatic that the Romanian government is now phasing out orphanages, and replacing them with government financed foster care.